Prince Harry would not be welcome in America under a second Donald Trump presidency, the Republican frontrunner has said.
Fresh from defeating sole rival Nikki Haley in the South Carolina primary, the 77-year-old White House hopeful has turned his aim on the Duke of Sussex.
Harry is currently facing a legal battle with a conservative think tank who are looking to use claims made in his book Spare that he took drugs as a reason to revoke his visa.
Mr Trump said the Biden administration has been “too gracious” to the prince and his wife Meghan Markle, with Homeland allowing them the right to live in the country in 2020.
“I wouldn’t protect him,” Mr Trump said on Saturday. “He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable. He would be on his own if it was down to me.”
Mr Trump did not expand on the Queen comment, but it has been reported that the late Elizabeth II was unhappy that the Sussexes named their daughter Lillibet – her nickname.
The 77-year-old Mr Trump has been known to follow through on grudges, completing a long campaign to try and prove Barack Obama was not born in America, before giving up.
In Spare, Harry admitted to taking cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms.
This was enough to provoke the fire and fury of right wing think tank The Heritage Foundation, which has taken Homeland Security to court over the prince’s visa.
Lawyer John Bardo, representing Harry on behalf of Homeland has countered the foundation’s argument saying “the book isn’t sworn testimony or proof”.
“Saying something in a book doesn’t necessarily make it true,” Mr Bardo said, according to a story run by the Telegraph on Saturday.
Mr Trump has previously lashed out at Harry, saying he was “surprised” the prince was given an invitation to Charles’s coronation.